On Feb. 17, about 30 print, photo and broadcast student journalists attended a Minnesota Wild team practice at the Xcel Energy Center. Students met with the MN Wild staff, local professional journalists and player Cal Clutterbuck. Students produced photos, stories and broadcasts and competed for the top spot in each category. The winners this year are Sam Oldenburg from Owatonna High School in the photo category and Elise Butler from St. Paul Academy in the print category. The broadcast winning entry is by Eoin Small and Alex Halfand from St. Paul Academy.
View the winning entries and comments from the judges below.
Link to Elise Butler’s winning story
Print judge comments: “The stories were all quite impressive, but this one stood out for its completeness — the way it hit all necessary points while keeping the narrative flowing and interesting. Another big point in its favor is that it is free of hyperboles that mar some of the other stories. It makes very good use of quotes, balancing them with helpful paragraphs that lead the reader along. The lead and the conclusion are also very well crafted. Overall, it reads like a professional’s story — kudos to this student!”
Photo judge comments: “It shows some real originality in thinking — a ‘portrait without a person’ so to speak. The image also follows some basic photographic principles (rule of thirds, for example). Balance and color are good, too.”
Broadcast judge comments: “This was, in my view, the best use of video story telling.
Strengths were:
1) Story structure: The story gave us a tease early on (the walking interview) about what would be ahead, including an interview with one of the players. The story then built up to that interview.
2) Soundbites: You let the people tell the story and gave us just enough narration to string the story together
3) Visual style: Some interesting camera shots, including the use of two cameras during the player interview, which visually reinforced that this was the big moment … also nice was the high angle, wide shot of the television producer explaining her job.”